Perfume: the Story of a murderer
About This Project
Synopsis
Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, orphaned as a newborn in the streets of Paris, is alone in the world. A peculiar child who rarely speaks, Grenouille is alienated from others but blessed with a remarkable gift. His sense of smell is so refined, so attuned to every blade of grass and blossoming flower, that it’s tragic when he’s sold into servitude to a tannery at the age of 13 and surrounded by the foul odors that accompany his labor.
But there comes a day when Grenouille runs an errand in town and discovers the object that will transform his life: perfume. Eager to learn the art of creating sophisticated fragrance, he apprentices himself to a once-renowned perfumer, and proves to be a savant whose almost mystical knowledge of scent surpasses anything that can be taught to him by masters of the craft.
Ironically, he was born with no scent of his own, a distinction which colors his undistinguished life. But Grenouille is fearless when it comes to the pursuit of a perfect perfume. When he discovers the most intoxicating scent he has ever experienced – the natural fragrance of a beautiful young girl – he learns that the only method to preserve her innocence and fresh beauty will require murder.
Plaguing the countryside with a series of gruesome killings, Grenouille must stay one step ahead of the authorities until he captures the final ingredient for his greatest perfume – the essence of a beautful redheaded girl whose wealthy father earnestly protects her. Only then, he believes, will he earn the attention and adulation that his extraordinary talent deserves.
Based on the best-selling novel by Patrick Süskind, “Perfume: The Story of a Murderer” is a story of a deadly obsession set in 18th-century France.
Cast & Crew
Cast
Jean-Baptiste Grenouille | BEN WHISHAW |
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Antoine Richis | ALAN RICKMAN |
Laura Richis | RACHEL HURD-WOOD |
Giuseppe Baldini | DUSTIN HOFFMAN |
The Plum Girl | KAROLINE HERFURTH |
Bishop of Grasse | DAVID CALDER |
Mayor of Grasse | SIMON CHANDLER |
Natalie | JESSICA SCHWARZ |
Madame Gaillard | SIAN THOMAS |
Madame Arnulfi | CORINNA HARFOUCH |
Dominique Druot | PAUL BERRONDO |
Chénier | TIMOTHY DAVIES |
Grimal | SAM DOUGLAS |
Marquis de Montesquieu | HARRIS GORDON |
Jeanne | SARA FORESTIER |
Marianne | JOANNA GRIFFITHS |
Grenouille’s mother | BIRGIT MINICHMAYR |
Grenouille (aged 5) | ALVARO ROQUE |
Grenouille (aged 12) | FRANCK LEFEUVRE |
Narrator | JOHN HURT |
Crew
Director | TOM TYKWER |
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Screenplay by | ANDREW BIRKIN, BERND EICHINGER, TOM TYKWER |
Based on the novel by | PATRICK SÜSKIND |
Producer | BERND EICHINGER |
Co-producer | GIGI OERI |
Executive in charge of production | CHRISTINE ROTHE |
Executive Producers |
MARTIN MOSZKOWICZ, ANDREAS SCHMID, ANDREAS GROSCH, MANUEL MALLE, SAMUEL HADIDA, JULIO FERNANDEZ |
Director of Photography | FRANK GRIEBE |
Editor | ALEXANDER BERNER |
Production Designer | ULI HANISCH |
Art Director | LAIA COLET |
Set Decorator | PHILIPPE TURLURE |
Costume Designer | PIERRE-YVES GAYRAUD |
Make-Up & Hair Design | WALDEMAR POKROMSKI |
Original Music | TOM TYKWER, JOHNNY KLIMEK, REINHOLD HEIL |
Orchestra | ORQUESTA FILARMÓNICA DE BERLÍN |
Conductor | SIR SIMON RATTLE |
Line Producer | SYLVIA TOLLMAN |
Delegate Producer | EDMON ROCH |
Line Producer Castelao | TERESA GEFAELL |
Supervising Sound Editor | MATTHIAS LEMPERT |
Sound Design | STEFAN BUSCH, FRANK KRUSE, DIRK JACOB, JOHANNES WARNS |
Sound Mixer | ROLAND WINKE |
Sound Re-recording Mixers | MICHAEL KRANZ, MATTHIAS LEMPERT |
Visual Effects | UPP, PRAG |
Visual Effects Supervisor | DENNIS LOWE, ULI NEFZER |
Production Notes
Title: | Perfume: The Story of a Murderer |
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Year: | 2006 |
Country: | Alemania – España – Francia |
Genre: | Drama – Thriller |
Format: | 2,35:1 |
Runtime: | 147 mins. |
Sound: | Dolby Digital 5.1 |
Language: | Inglés |
Release Date in Germany: | 14 septiembre 2006 |
Release Date in Spain: | 24 septiembre 2006 |
Produced by: | CONSTANTIN FILM PRODUKTION, VIP MEDIENFONDS 4 PRODUKTION |
In co-production with: | NOUVELLES ÉDITIONS DE FILMS (NEF), CASTELAO PRODUCCIONES |
In association with: | IKIRU FILMS, DAVIS-FILMS, RISING STAR |
International Sales: | SUMMIT ENTERTAINMENT |
Reviews
Bernard Besserglik, The Hollywood Reporter
“…Long regarded as unfilmable, Patrick Suskind’s 1985 novel “Perfume” has finally reached the screen in a blockbuster production that succeeds (…) in achieving what many said was beyond the scope of cinema: conveying the world of scent and smell…”
Rick Kisonak, Film Threat
“…The director’s recreation of pre-Revolutionary France is lavishly imaginative, the cinematography is flawless and the score otherworldly…”
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
“…Tom Tykwer (“Run, Lola, Run”) evokes a medieval world of gross vices, all-pervading stinks and crude appetites (…) It took imagination to tell it, courage to film it, thought to act it, and from the audience it requires a brave curiosity about the peculiarity of obsession…”
Dan Jolin, Empire
“…Perfume is a feast for the senses. Smell it with your eyes…”
Festivals & Awards
Gallery